Six Goal Thriller At The New York Stadium

Rotherham United 3 v Stoke City 3
Crooks (31, 67)                    A MacDonald (og) (14)
Smith (51 )                           Batth (62)
                                              Powell (75)

Paul Warne’s two hundredth game in charge of Rotherham United saw his team draw three-all with Stoke City at a wet and windy New York Stadium this evening.

The visitors had the better of the opening minutes when a shot from Jordan Thompson took a deflection for a corner which went over. Wes Harding did well to stop Stoke get an attack going with Jamie Lindsay winning a free-kick which Josef Bursic in the City goal came out to claim. On fourteen minutes a cross from Rhys Norrington-Davies into the area appeared to hit the boot of Angus MacDonald with the loop beating Millers’ ‘keeper Jamal Blackman to give Stoke the lead. The Millers came straight back when a Dan Barlaser corner found Harding who headed the ball onto the underneath of the crossbar coming down before being cleared off the line by Stoke defenders. A Barlaser free-kick was sent short to Jamie Lindsay who put it into the middle for Matt Crooks but his shot was blocked. The pressure paid off just after the half hour mark when Michael Smith sent a great cross into the area for Crooks who stuck the ball into the net to make it one-all. Stoke came close to a second when Thompson hit the ball only for Richard Wood to defend well. The first yellow card of the night went to Stoke’s Danny Batth after an off the ball incident with Matt Crooks. In time added on in the first half Stoke came close again when a Thompson corner went towards Batth but all he could do was put it out for a Millers throw.

The second half saw an early chance for the hosts when Dan Barlaser skipped past his marker and put a lovely ball in for Matt Crooks but Nathan Collins did well to get there before him. Jordan Thompson was the next Stoke player to thwart the Millers after Ben Wiles did well to get the ball into Crooks with the Northern Ireland midfielder putting his shot out for a corner. From the Barlaser corner the ball was headed on by Wes Harding to Michael Smith who headed into the net to give the hosts the lead. Rotherham came close to a third when under pressure City ‘keeper Josef Bursic short pass only found Barlaser who was about to send the ball towards the net only for Danny Batth to intercept and clear. At the other end Michael Ihiekwe stopped a Nick Powell cross finding Rabbi Motondo but nobody defended a minute later when a cross from Powell was perfect for Batth to head the ball home to make it two-two. City brought on Steven Fletcher and Joe Allen for Jacob Brown and Jordan Cousins. On sixty-seven minutes Rotherham went in front again after the ball in the area hit player after player before Crooks took control and smashed the ball forward where it hit the underneath of the crossbar and went into the net. Minutes later Crooks nearly had his hat-trick after some good work between Matt Olosunde and Barlaser found the tall midfielder who put wide from close range. Another two changes for the visitors saw Jordan Thompson and Rabbi Matondo replaced by James McClean and Jack Clarke. Two minutes later it was three-three after a cross from McClean found the head of Powell who scored. At the other end Harding got in a good position only to see his header go wide from a Barlaser set-piece before only some good defending by Batth stopped Crooks adding to his tally. The Millers first change saw Clark Robertson on for Angus MacDonald which was followed by a close miss for the visitors after a free-kick found the Millers defence watching as Harry Souter got there putting his header wide. Crooks saw a harsh yellow for a challenge on John Obi Mikel with the resulting free-kick being cleared by Harding. Rotherham’s next change saw Dan Barlaser make way for Freddie Ladapo with the striker coming close to making a difference in his first minute of the pitch when an Olosunde cross found him but he couldn’t quite get to it. Jamal Blackman punched a McClean cross away before Batth put a header inches wide of the upright minutes later. George Hirst was brought on for Michael Smith which was followed by a yellow card for Olosunde for time wasting from a throw-in. In the second minute of time added on Ladapo set up Crooks but he saw his shot go wide.

All in all a scrappy first half was forgotten with four second half goals and plenty of attacking play and a point-a-piece was probably a fair result.